I took my 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 with 5.7 Hemi and an automatic tranny for a transmission service today. It has just over 190,000 miles. The mechanic asked if I'd ever had it serviced before, which I have. I asked why he asked me. He said that if it had never been performed before he would not want to do it because of the high mileage. He said Dodges are notorious for tranny failures and servicing a tranny with such high mileage could lead to a vehicle not even being able to pull out of the shop after the service. This has me nervous even though I've had it serviced before. I told him I'd come back later. I cannot afford to have a tranny problem. Is there any truth to this? Why would new fluid and filters ruin a perfectly good transmission?

I've heard my brother say this before, years ago, but I never questioned him about it. However, now I'm curious... What do you resident experts have to say about this?

It can be bad for any trans. Years of gunk thats holding things together getting cleaned out can lead to a quick death. You can roll the dice and leave it alone and hope for the best or change it and wonder if and when.

im the same way with my 03. im meticulous with the engine service, because ive heard of the 4.7 sludge problems but ive never serviced the tranny. the fluid is showing signs of wear too. wouldnt changing the filters and lost fluid be just as good? was thinking maybe that and changing it soon after again once it went thru the converter. lame thinking??

I believe that concern here is whole fluid flush vs drop and drain. Typically the high-mileage vehicles that have the fluid flush (which is the way most shops do it) are the ones that suffer from "shock" and fail. This is why most people elect to just drop the pan, change the filters, and add however much fluid is drained; which is about half. This keeps good or better fluid in the trans but also keeps that 'gunk' in there that is holding things together. At least thats the theory.

It really depends on whether the garage plans on completely flushing it, using a machine, or just dropping the pan and draining. Completely flushing a high mileage tranny, that has never or rarely been serviced has potential to be catastrophic, however one can also luck out. Flushing a high-mileage (and not regularly serviced) tranny, will cause all the years of crude build-up to get swashed around, and it can all break apart and not all make it out of the tranny. Also, the crude build-up can also also make the old, worn out seals, actually stayed all sealed. If a garage you went to is telling you this, I would definitely keep going back to them (if you don't do the work yourself), especially considering they're basically telling you they do not want to take your money for your own benefit.

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